The Future of TV & Online Video (comments on a CNN column)

CNN Online has a pretty good feature on "Is the Future of TV on the Web?" Here are some high-lights and my comments. Update: Geoffrey Long just send me this link to the full version of his column.

"Historically, the winners are the ones who embrace change," said Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.com, which was launched March 12 by the owners of Fox and NBC Universal. Timeline: A history of online video » He should know -- Kilar cut his teeth pioneering Web commerce at Amazon. Now, he has produced a Web site that offers more than 3,000 full-length TV episodes and 100 movies -- all available free..."

My comment: This is the key phrase: Watch your favorites. Online. For free. Indeed - paying with attention is here, for sure. I just hope that next-gen Advertising will be with us, soon, as well - otherwise we will run out of steam to power the engines. And we will need to solve the issue of Privacy in this context, as well - a tall order but maybe less relevant to some of us (depending on age, culture, location etc). If I can really trade my user-data, attention kernels and click-stream history for free content, how can I avoid becoming transparent to anyone that cares to look?

"The studios are merely following the viewers, who are increasingly watching video online. In the past year researchers tracked a seismic shift in the amount of video Americans watched on the Web -- up 66 percent, according to comScore. Americans watched 10 billion videos in the month of February alone, said the rating service..."

My comment: The key word here, imho, is SHARING. Users are creating conText online (which I would argue is ConTent, too), i.e. they add real value, relevance, meaning, by engaging with and around the content. This, in turn, attracts other users, and on from there. The biggest difference is that this is not a controllable environment!

"Free online video changes consumer viewing habits because it offers alternatives to TV. Even now, a 9-year-old boy in Georgia will turn to YouTube for new episodes of Japan's action anime "Naruto," which are unavailable on U.S. TV. In Indiana, a viewer who canceled her cable TV because she's fed up with multiple commercials can go online at CBS.com to watch "CSI" -- with fewer ads. On CNN.com, viewers can watch virtually every prepared report that now airs on CNN's TV networks..."

My comment: this is a major trend, no doubt - and quite a scary one, for the cable industry and maybe even the telcos. All around me, people are starting to drop their cable  or satellite subscriptions in favor of web-based TV-like offerings, and of course...free movie downloading (omg - what we give for a flat rate, all you watch, on-demand online movie service...?). Speaking for myself here, I am certainly watching less and less TV the more good sources of online video I discover. In my view, traditional TV producers and networks have no choice: Participate or Be Participated. Read my TV2.0 pdf

"As for the TV culture in a post-Internet age, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web media researcher Geoffrey Long believes multiple video-delivery devices will fracture the traditional shared entertainment experience fostered by TV."You may be less likely to ask your co-worker if they'd seen the latest episode of [the Internet-based animation series] 'Homestar Runner,' " said Long. "But you can have the same conversation with friends on the other side of the planet."

< Picture Source: MTV Asia Report (Google Image Search)

Comments

[Geoffrey Long]

Hey Gerd -- thanks for the shout-out. You can find a much, much longer version of my thoughts on the matter on my blog at http://www.geoffreylong.com/journal/2008/05/this-is-cnn-the-directors-cut.php.

[Lawrence]

Interesting article. Internet TV and PC satellite TV are the future of TV. They allow one to download software to one's computer or laptop and watch TV online - up to 5000 channels in high definition. Find out more about it at http://www.1-satellite-tv-facts.com